September 13th, 2020 at 8:15 am 
by Ron Cervenka There are nightmares, and then there are nightmares.
Saturday night was, as Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen repeatedly said, “Just a nightmare.”
And he was right.
All the soon-to-be 33-year-old (on September 30) Willemstad, Curacao native had to do was record three outs to preserve left-hander Julio Urias‘ six-inning masterpiece and the Dodgers’ 5-2 lead over America’s most-hated team – the Houston Astros.
He recorded none.
Instead, the three-time All-Star and two-time Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits to turn his impressive 1.96 ERA into an ugly 3.93.
(Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports)
“It was a nightmare, man,” Jansen told reporters (via Zoom) after the game. “I’m executing; I’m ahead in the count on everyone. I just didn’t execute well like I used to, just to put them away.
“Today I didn’t execute. It was just a nightmare. Just got to put it away. You gotta move on to the next one,” Jansen added.
Easier said than done.
But you’ve got to give the 6′-5″ / 265-pound gentle giant credit – at least he owned up to his – and our – nightmare at 1000 Vin Scully Avenue.
(Video capture courtesy of LA Dodgers)
The problem – and make no mistake about it, it is a problem – is that this is pretty much what Jansen said following his near blown save against the Arizona Diamondbacks this past Tuesday at Chase Field. In that one, Jansen allowed three runs on three hits, including a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, of what had been a 6-6 tie. Fortunately, the Dodgers had scored four runs in their half of the 10th to give the Dodgers a 10-6 lead and Jansen a four-run cushion to work with. Ironically, Jansen was credited with the eventual 10-9 Dodgers win; this despite nearly blowing it.
The burning question is, of course, why did Dodgers manager Dave Roberts leave his struggling former All-Star closer in there when he clearly, yet again, did not have it.
“As far as a leash, he’s our closer,” Roberts answered. “But obviously, performance matters, it does. And everyone in that clubhouse knows that.”
…everyone except Dave Roberts, it seems.
But alas, with 14 games remaining in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 regular season, the Dodgers still hold a three-game lead over the hard-charging San Diego Padres in the NL West – Kenley Jansen notwithstanding.
Play Ball!
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Somebody find out if Doc ever attended the “Joe Torre School of Bullpen Management.” That would explain a lot.
Proud of Julio Urias; he pitched the Asterisks tough.
It looked like another win for dem bums until Kenley unintentionally offered batting practice to the Astros. Like always after such an outing, they have to turn the page on this disaster and hope for a better outcome tonight.
I was actually going to use the ‘batting practice’ line in the article, but I think I got the point across without it.
You can’t blame the trash cans this time.
Just another poor decision by Roberts based on what he wants to happen instead of seeing what is happening and move to correct the situation before it is to late.
Dumb ROBERTS is getting warmed up for post season.5 years now making same dumb mistakes.BUT IT’S OWNERS FAULT CAUSE IF IT WAS GEORGE STEIBRENNER,HE WOULD HAVE FIRED HIM FIRST YEAR.